CELTIC have reportedly clinched a deal for Finland international striker Teemu Pukki. The Schalke striker is due to jet in to Glasgow on Monday to tie up a deal that would see the 23-year-old pull on the green and white hoops - but he would be ineligible to face Kazakh outfit Shakhter Karagandy. Pukki, who has scored six goals in 24 international games, has been the subject of sustained interest from the Parkhead side, who turned their attentions to the German-based forward after being priced out of a move for Heerenveen striker Alfreð Finnbogason - and Neil Lennon hinted after his side’s 2-2 Draw with Inverness CT that he would be signing a striker and midfielder during the course of the next week.

Injury worries

However, the Celtic boss faces a sweat over a number of stars ahead of the must-win return leg against Shakhter Karagandy. Beram Kayal limped off with a groin strain after 22 minutes yesterday and will miss out, while striker Anthony Stokes is rated ‘doubtful’ by Lennon. Defender Virgil Van Dijk tweaked his hamstring during the match while James Forrest is ‘50-50’, according to the Hoops boss who is hopeful that Kris Commons and Georgios Samaras - who sat out the 2-2 draw with the Caley Jags - will be fit. Lennon could also be without Derk Boerrigter, leaving him short on attacking options in a game where he needs goals.

Rangers have brought in Jack Irvine to assume the role of spin doctor - to ensure that a group of investors keen on ousting Ibrox chief executive Craig Mather are not successful. Irvine - who alrady represents bus tycoon brothers Sandy and James Easdale - will be used to help fight attempts by Jim McColl to remove Mather and fellow directors Brian Stockbridge and Bryan Smart from the Rangers board, and replace them with former Blue Knights figurehead Paul Murray and troubleshooting accountant Frank Blin.

Irvine has already warned McColl and his partners that he will work to expose ‘reprehensible behaviour’ and in a statement said: “The board felt they were not successfully articulating their defence against vicious and times underhand attacks of Jim McColl, Frank Blin and Paul Murray.

“The board also felt that there are huge public misconceptions about the financial realities of the club and once again this was a failure of communication.

“I have known Jim, Frank and Paul for many years and have a huge respect for their abilities. Unfortunately, I believe they have now stepped out of their comfort zones.

“The media scrutiny they now face is like nothing they will ever have known in their professional lives. I , and many other observers, are staggered at the arrogance of men who have invested nothing in the club yet feel they can dictate to directors who have sunk substantial sums into the venture.

“I am reminded that some of these individuals had the chance to buy the club for a modest sum yet were repeatedly found wanting. Since then they have done little but damage the club they claim to love.”

Rangers PR chief Jim Traynor called Irvine’s appointment a ‘surprise’, adding: “I’ve not spoken to Jack Irvine. As far as I’m concerned that is the way it will stay.”

A joint statement from supporters’ organisations said they were ‘saddened’ by the return of Media House to Ibrox, ‘particularly considering their spectacular failure to defen the reputation of the club and the fans during their previous tenure.”

Derek McInnes blames Hearts assistant over touchline clash

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes has pointed the finger at Billy Brown following a touchline spat that saw the Pittodrie gaffer and the Hearts assistant boss sent to the stand at Tynecastle yesterday. McInnes and Brown clashed after 17-year-old Jordan McGhee scored the winner two minutes from time, with the former East Fife boss celebrating so wildly he ended up in the away dugout, where he had a grappling match with the Dons boss before police stepped in. Both men face being hauled in front of the SFA beaks for their part in the fracas that also saw Hearts manager Gary Locke exchange words with Dons No 2 Tony Docherty, but McInnes has blamed Brown for the incident, adding: “I’ve never seen an opposition member of staff come right into their rivals’ technical area to celebrate like Brown did.

“But as soon as I’ve put my arms on him to push him back I’m guilty.”

Strachan: We must stop Benteke

Scotland boss Gordon Strachan is set to keep faith in Russell Martin and Grant Hanley ahead of Scotland’s match against Belgium, claiming that the relatively inexperienced centre half pairing can keep Belgium striker Christian Benteke at bay. The substantial Aston Villa striker has scored three goals in two games for Aston Villa, and Strachan is only too aware of his abilities in a Belgian side teeming with talent including Everton pair Marouane Fellaini and Kevin Mirallas, Spurs stopper Jan Vertonghen and Chelsea winger Eden Hazard. The Scotland boss added: “Most of them are playing Champions League and are at top clubs. They are absolutely terrific. They are up there in the top 10 in the world. They are a right good side.”

This website and its associated newspaper adheres to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's Editors' Code of Practice.
If you have a complaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then contact the
Editor by clicking here.

If you remain dissatisfied with the response provided then you can contact the IPSO by
clicking here.

The Scotsman provides news, events and sport features from the Edinburgh area. For the best up to date information relating to Edinburgh and the surrounding areas visit us at The Scotsman regularly or bookmark this page.

For you to enjoy all the features of this website The Scotsman requires permission to use cookies.

Find Out More ▼

What is a Cookie?

What is a Flash Cookie?

Can I opt out of receiving Cookies?

About our Cookies

Cookies are small data files which are sent to your browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome etc) from a website you visit. They are stored on your electronic device.

This is a type of cookie which is collected by Adobe Flash media player (it is also called a Local Shared Object) - a piece of software you may already have on your electronic device to help you watch online videos and listen to podcasts.

Yes there are a number of options available, you can set your browser either to reject all cookies, to allow only "trusted" sites to set them, or to only accept them from the site you are currently on.

However, please note - if you block/delete all cookies, some features of our websites, such as remembering your login details, or the site branding for your local newspaper may not function as a result.

The types of cookies we, our ad network and technology partners use are listed below:

Revenue Science ►

A tool used by some of our advertisers to target adverts to you based on pages you have visited in the past. To opt out of this type of targeting you can visit the 'Your Online Choices' website by clicking here.

Google Ads ►

Our sites contain advertising from Google; these use cookies to ensure you get adverts relevant to you. You can tailor the type of ads you receive by visiting here or to opt out of this type of targeting you can visit the 'Your Online Choices' website by clicking here.

Digital Analytics ►

This is used to help us identify unique visitors to our websites. This data is anonymous and we cannot use this to uniquely identify individuals and their usage of the sites.

Dart for Publishers ►

This comes from our ad serving technology and is used to track how many times you have seen a particular ad on our sites, so that you don't just see one advert but an even spread. This information is not used by us for any other type of audience recording or monitoring.

ComScore ►

ComScore monitor and externally verify our site traffic data for use within the advertising industry. Any data collected is anonymous statistical data and cannot be traced back to an individual.

Local Targeting ►

Our Classified websites (Photos, Motors, Jobs and Property Today) use cookies to ensure you get the correct local newspaper branding and content when you visit them. These cookies store no personally identifiable information.

Grapeshot ►

We use Grapeshot as a contextual targeting technology, allowing us to create custom groups of stories outside out of our usual site navigation. Grapeshot stores the categories of story you have been exposed to. Their privacy policy and opt out option can be accessed here.

Subscriptions Online ►

Our partner for Newspaper subscriptions online stores data from the forms you complete in these to increase the usability of the site and enhance user experience.

Add This ►

Add This provides the social networking widget found in many of our pages. This widget gives you the tools to bookmark our websites, blog, share, tweet and email our content to a friend.